(I am SO sorry this chapter took so long to come out! I was super busy, and I'll continue to be busy until next Tuesday afternoon. Not looking forward to finals but it's a part of college life. But after Tuesday I'll be free to do some more writing! Wish me luck, and thank you all so much for sticking with me!)

"Hey," Lise shoved a mug into Yusei's face. "How long have you been working?"

"Um considering I started after dinner? A few hours. It's like nine."

"In the morning, not night," Lise said, sighing.

Yusei eyes widened in surprise and he looked out the windows for the first time in hours. "Holy… I did it again…" Yusei groaned, pulling at the skin of his face down wearily. There were purple bags under his eyes. "What's in this?" He finally asked, staring at the contents of the mug Lise had handed him.

"Coffee, with a little vanilla syrup."

Yusei shrugged and emptied the mug in just a few seconds. "A little too heavy on the syrup this time around."

"I was experimenting this morning," Lise smiled briefly, but then her brows knit together. "You should take a break, relax, eat something. Function like a human, okay?"

"Sure," Yusei yawned, stood up, and stretched. "I'll certainly sleep like a baby tonight. Going out for a while?" He'd spotted Lise's slightly more formal attire.

She nodded awkwardly, tugging on her shirt's hem. "My boss wants me in the office today. Hopefully I'll be home before rush hour."

"Do you have to be in the office tomorrow?"

"No, why?"

"Do you wanna go on a date tomorrow?"

"You're supposed to be taking a break and relaxing," Lise reminded him, but her cheeks had turned pink.

"You relax me. We can go for a walk and see a movie."

"Only if you actually sleep tonight," she touched the mark on Yusei's cheek just under the tired bags framing the bottom of his eyes. "And I pick the movie."

"Deal," Yusei smiled. "Can I kiss you before you go?"

Lise smiled too and quickly pecked him on the lips. "Gotta go now, and we've been together long enough that you can just surprise me with a kiss."

"Noted," Yusei's smile turned into a full blown grin as he watched Lise drive off.

/

"Okay," Lise slid down the ladder and into the kitchen with a warm grin on her face. "I'm ready to go."

Yusei's smile was less enthusiastic. He pocketed his phone and looked sheepish.

"What?" Lise's mood dampened. She knew that look, and she didn't like it one bit.

"I just got a call about fixing something?" He said it like it were a question, not an actual event. Yusei could tell by Lise's frown that she wasn't happy about the development. "I'd have to go over since the family can't bring their fridge here. It shouldn't take too long. I can have it done in time to catch our movie later! I swear!"

"But usually 'not too long' is a very long time with you, Yusei. You get so invested in a project that you don't stop and by then it's like hours later."

"But this is just a quick fixer upper!" Yusei protested pleadingly. "Come on, with Jack's spending habits we could really use the extra cash right now."

"Fine," Lise grumped, crossing her arms.

"I'll buy the popcorn," Yusei offered. He bit his lip, feeling guilty.

"And I get to take my own runner instead of riding on the back of yours," Lise nodded.

"But it'll be easier if we just take mine."

"One, sitting squished between the arc and you is not fun in the slightest, and two; we can't race on one runner."

"Is that a challenge?"

"It's whatever you want it to be," Lise smiled coyly and hopped aboard her bike. "So where is this place?"

"Follow me and find out!"

"Cheater!"

/

"This is the place," Yusei said. He pulled up a second after Lise did.

She took off her helmet and surveyed the location. "It seems kinda quiet for a family home. You sure this is right?"

"Uh huh," Yusei pulled his tools out of the compartment underneath his runner's seat. "I triple checked."

Lise stared suspiciously up at the brick and metal home. It was gray, bland, and fairly large. Nice trees, shrubbery, and grass lined the yard. There were no cars in the driveway, and the garage doors were sealed shut.

Three men hid in the shadows of the house's trees. Lise hadn't spotted them and Yusei hadn't so much as glanced at their hiding spot.

One of the men took out his phone and began typing furiously. He brought a woman with him.

He waited briefly for a reply. Describe her.

Blonde, tall, probably his girlfriend. I dunno. What do we do?

Bring her along. Don't do anything more than I've ordered.

Understood.

"I'll wait out here," Lise finally said.

"I'm sure you can come in too. They won't bite you."

Lise shook her head. "I'm not here for them. I'm here as a favor to you. I'll be just fine out here."

"Okay…Text me if something comes up."

"K," Lise reached into her own runner's secret compartment and brought out one of the books she kept there.

Yusei sidled up to the door. He rang the doorbell and waited. Nothing. He rang it again, starting to think Lise's vibes were getting to him.

A muffled scream came from indoors. Even Lise looked up in surprise. "Should we-"

"I'll go in and see if everyone is okay. If I don't text you in five minutes, call Trudge!" Yusei shoved the unlocked door open and raced in.

Lise stood tense and at the ready by her runner. Her phone poised in her hand, and her book forgotten.

She practically jumped out of her skin when her phone began ringing. It was Akiza.

"Now isn't a very good time, Akiza!" Lise's voice came out strained and panicky.

"Are you okay? You sound stressed. I just wanted to call and ask when I could come over. I need help with my calculus and literature homework again and I-"

"Look, can I call you back? I think Yusei might be in trouble."

"Where are you? Are you two okay?"

"I don't-" Lise was cut off by someone smacking her arm. Reflexively she dropped her phone, which shattered on the concrete, and she turned to kick her attacker in the stomach.

He went down hard. His second companion attempted to kick Lise in the head, but she blocked and kneed him in the crotch.

"MPH!" Lise's muffled cry of confusion rang out when the third thug covered her nose and mouth with some sort of cloth from behind.

He snickered in her ear as Lise tried to pry his arms away from her. "You've gotta breathe some time."

Lise managed to free herself, but she'd inhaled too much of whatever she'd been drugged with. Her last thoughts were of panic as her vision turned black, and she conked out on the pavement.

/

Yusei raced up the stairs. He hadn't found anything on the first floor. Anything resembling humans or furniture that is. The home was completely empty.

On the second floor, Yusei spotted a body lying on the floor. "Hey are you okay? Answer me!" Yusei shook the man's body.

The body rolled over and smirked at Yusei. "I'm much more okay than you!"

The three men from below emerged from the doorway. The largest one brandishing a bat, and the next thing Yusei knew was the sharp pain of the bat's impact against his skull and the wooden floors of the fake house he'd been falsely led to.

/

Yusei sat up slowly. It was dark which meant he had to wait to be able to see. "Where am I?" He winced, and felt his head. "Oh that's right; those assholes smacked me with a bat. This bump will be a nice bruise by tomorrow." He felt the ground beneath him. "The floor is warm, and…vibrating?" He felt around him and his hand rested on a wall. The wall had two handles, but no doorknob. "Is this a door?" Yusei pulled on the handles and rammed his shoulder into the wall, but to no avail.

Not knowing what else to do, Yusei leaned against the wall. "Think. You were attacked. The ground is warm, vibrating, and there are handles on a door that won't open. That means…" He blinked, his eyes finally adjusting to the darkness.

"Lise!" Yusei bent down and shook her shoulder. "Hey, you okay? You've gotta get up. I think we're in a truck."

She sat up painstakingly slowly. "Oh god. My head feels like clouds and maple syrup."

"They didn't knock you out?"

Lise rolled her eyes. "No they knocked me out with some drug. Is there a reason I can't see besides drugs?"

"I think we're locked in the back of a truck," Yusei told her. He helped Lise to her feet, keeping her steady since her head was still spinning a little.

"One mystery solved, but where exactly are we going?"

"Why you're going to join my turbo dueling team, of course." Light flooded the interior of the truck from a large screen in the side. It was about the same size as a flat screen TV, but Lise and Yusei weren't lucky enough to be met with merely a boring sports game. A middle aged man with gray hair and a spotless suit sneered at them from a superb desk.

Lise and Yusei blinked at him, exchanged glances, and directed identical looks of skepticism and anger at him.

"Not in this lifetime," Yusei said.

"You could have just asked. Fucking kidnapping us is a huge turn off," Lise added.

The man shrugged, not put off in the slightest. "I own the greatest turbo dueling team in the world, and I had to make sure you were on it. I wasn't expecting Yusei to have company, but the team will be better for it."

"We didn't sign up for anything, so I suggest you have our truck pull over and let us out."

The man slammed his hands onto his desk. His features were warped by his anger, and he leaned close to the camera. "I own a top notch company and I do not take no for an answer. As you can probably tell, I'm not a well-balanced person." He snickered, his close proximity to the camera making his less than friendly smile all the creepier.

"That explains the truck then," Yusei growled.

"But dude, seriously? What the hell was your plan here?" Lise shook her head pityingly. "Talk about pathetic. You kidnap us and then expect us to be on your turbo-dueling team? What was the angle you were going to spin? Ransom? Threaten someone we care about? Exceedingly large amounts of cash? If it was a ransom plot, we'd ignore it and go break Yusei out. Threatening our friends would get you nowhere. Money wouldn't appeal to us at all. Yet you went with kidnapping. Well, we're kidnapped, so what now? What could possibly keep us on your turbo-dueling team? Will you keep us in here until it's time to duel? Feed us scraps of food like animals? I mean, how well did you really think this through?"

"Well I – you see – it's just – basically… shut up!"

"You've got nothing to make us stay, but this truck," Yusei grinned. "And once it's open, we're gone."

"Good luck with that," the man sneered and sat back in his arm chair to watch over the two of them.

"Now to find a way out," Lise crossed over to where a large sheet was covering something and dragged it off. "At least they thought to bring our runners."

Yusei nodded in agreement. "Leaving them out in the open would only raise suspicion."

"But sadly won't help us get out of here," Lise tapped on the double doors staying tightly locked.

"Those didn't budge earlier," Yusei informed her. "Wouldn't hurt to try again though."

"Maybe instead of pushing and shoving…" Lise struck a low stance, pivoted, and aimed a carefully crafted sidekick at the crack where the doors met. "OW!" She exclaimed, bouncing off the doors like a rubber band. She bounced up and down on her good foot, clutching at the other as it ached.

"Guess it could hurt to try again," Yusei chuckled nervously. "Now what?"

"I dunno. I'm guessing we don't want to be here when this truck gets to wherever it's going?" Lise grunted out.

"Can you use your energy to stop the truck?"

Lise put her foot down and shook her head. "No, I can't see where we are and who's around us. If I cause a crash, somebody might get hurt." She was silent for a moment. "Can we use your tools to dismantle the doors?!"

"Not unless the hinges are built on the inside."

"Oh…" Lise's exuberance deflated like a popped balloon.

"Could you use your energy to break the door down?"

"I can try," Lise flexed her fingers, and the truck illuminated with a faint red glow from a red energy disc. Lise crossed her arms and uncrossed them in a swift sweeping motion. Her energy disc whizzed across the two doors, denting one of them on impact, but overall barely scratching them.

"Shit," Yusei swore. "It'll take a million of those to get through."

"Akiza called me before everything went down. Maybe she can help."

"They took our phones. Think you can contact her via the Signer link?"

"It'll be faint, she and I don't have an empathy link, but maybe I can nudge her in the right direction," Lise sat cross-legged on the truck floor and closed her eyes.

/

"Mina! How soon can you get here?!" Akiza demanded the second the chief of police picked up her phone.

"Akiza what's wrong?"

"I think Lise and Yusei have been kidnapped!"

"You're at school, right? I'll be there in five minutes." Mina hung up without another word.

Akiza waited at the sidewalk nearest the entrance to duel academy. She shifted restlessly from foot to foot as she dialed Crow and Jack's numbers.

"This is Crow Hogan for-"

"Crow! It's Akiza!"

"Akiza?" Jack's voice came through too. "What's wrong?"

"Yusei and Lise have been kidnapped!"

"What?!"

"Shit," Crow swore. "I'm working right now. I'll call my boss, and keep riding around looking, but that's the best I can do right now."

"You sure?" Jack asked. "Yusei was going out on a job and Lise went with him for a date afterwards."

"I think so," Akiza hopped into Mina's police cruiser, and they took off. "I called Lise a little while ago to see if she wanted to hang out, and she sounded panicked. The last thing I heard were a few voices I didn't recognize and something shattering. Mina and I are looking around."

"All right," Jack climbed aboard his ride and raced into town. "I'll do a run of the outskirts of the city and Satellite. You take downtown, Akiza. Crow, keep your eyes peeled wherever you go."

"Roger," Crow saluted.

"Keep us posted," Mina said and Akiza hung up.

Akiza scanned the streets and cars rapidly. Her left leg bounced unceasingly and she bit her nails every few minutes.

Mina rested one hand on Akiza's resting knee. "We'll find them. It'll be okay."

"Thanks," Akiza smiled gratefully.

Both women nearly jumped out of their skins when Mina's police radio crackled to life. "Elizabeth Kururugi and Yusei Fudo are in a soda truck heading north on Blue Hill Route in West Valley Area."

"Hey, who is this? How did you get this frequency?" Mina demanded, fruitlessly trying to retrace the anonymous tip.

"Forget who it is. Let's go!"

Mina scowled, but she turned onto the highway, and kept her eye out for soda trucks.

Akiza's expression lightened when she spotted a soda delivery truck driving below them. "Mina! It's that one! Follow that one! Get on the lower road now!"

"Hang on!" Mina exited their highway, dodging cars on her way up to the truck Akiza indicated.

Akiza looked down and smiled. "My mark is glowing! I'm sure of it! This is them. Can you get closer?" She unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up, hanging on behind Mina's seat.

Mina changed lanes and pushed on the gas until Akiza could see into the driver's seat.

"No way!" she gasped. "Nobody's driving!"

"It must be remote control!"

Despite not having a human driver, the truck was driving itself rather well. It poured on the speed and shot ahead of Mina's cruiser.

"Looks like whoever's pulling the strings doesn't want us to get our friends back," Akiza growled angrily. She drew her duel disk out of her backpack. "Get as close to the back of the truck as possible."

Mina did so smoothly so as not to throw Akiza overboard.

"I summon Rose Tentacles!" At Akiza's command, her plant-like octopus monster emerged from a pool of white light. It lifted its leafy tentacles and fastened itself to the top of the truck.

/

"You're going to fail, you know. Then you'll have no choice but to join my team."

"For the last time," Yusei growled at the screen depicting their capturer. "Shut the hell up. You're not helping."

"Exactly, because there's no helping you! Just accept that you'll be on my team and-"

"Do I have to reach through that screen and punch you? What part of no do you not understand?!"

"Okay…" Lise frowned, her eyebrow twitching. "Making it really hard to concentrate."

"Sorry, I can't seem to get him to shut up or find the off button. Did you manage to make a connection?"

"I can't tell. She's too focused on something else right now," Lise stood up.

"Well, our marks have been on and off. Maybe that's a good sign?" Yusei suggested hopefully.

Lise smiled thinly at him.

Thud!

The noise came from the doors, and then was gone just as quickly.

"Do the doors look…slightly closer?" Yusei raised an eyebrow.

"Oh thank god. I wasn't the only one who heard it," Lise exhaled slowly. "Whattaya think it was?" She rested her ear on one of the doors, her brow furrowed disbelievingly.

"Too loud to be just a rock."

"I'm sure it's nothing," their capturer waved the concern away with his hand, however, his sweating forehead said otherwise.

Another loud thud clearly dented the doors about a foot, sending Lise colliding with Yusei like bowling pins.

"Ow, sorry," Lise cringed apologetically as she and Yusei got up.

"That's two bumps on my head now," Yusei mused, massaging the tender spots with a grimace.

"Sorry," Lise repeated, pulling him back to his feet.

There was another loud thud and the opening widened to reveal Akiza and Mina!

"Prison break!" Lise cheered, shoving the doors fully open.

Akiza laughed. "I hope you two ordered a rescue!"

"With extra please and thank you," Yusei smiled too.

"Oh no you don't!" At their kidnapper's words, the truck sped up again. "If I can't have you, no one can!"

Rose Tentacles was thrown off the truck, and was instantly destroyed.

"I've had enough of you!" Lise roared. Her arm glowed with red energy and unbidden orange electricity. In one punch she shattered the screen, cutting off the connection permanently. Her power faded and she turned sheepishly back to the others. "Sorry, was that okay? He was getting on my nerves."

"That was awesome," Yusei stated.

"Quit flirting you two and get out!"

"Right, right." The two of them donned their helmets and readied their bikes.

Mina was having trouble staying out of the way of the damaged doors. Their erratic swinging put her on edge, and she didn't want Akiza to get skewered.

The doors broke free and Akiza reacted instinctively. She jumped past them, narrowly missing getting her arm sliced. Her duel disk and Mina were not so lucky.

Mina skidded to a grinding halt, and avoided getting hit by the doors and Akiza's duel disk. She tried to contact security for more help, but her cruiser's systems were down. A lone turbo duelist whistled by her without a chance for a second glance.

Akiza had landed safely in the back of the runaway truck. Not what she had planned, exactly, but better than hitting the pavement at top speed.

"Akiza, you okay?" Lise rushed to her side and helped pull her up.

"Yeah, just some bruised knees, but now we have a bigger problem. How am I gonna get off this thing?"

"You can ride with us," Yusei said. "But I'd make it fast."

Akiza's face turned white. "Ya know what? I think I can make a jump."

Yusei shook his head. "We don't have time to argue!"

"And we prefer you alive," Lise pulled Akiza firmly over to her runner. "Can Starfire handle the extra weight?"

"She should be fine, but will you?"

Lise tossed Akiza an extra helmet. "Absolutely." Lise took a deep breath and slid aboard her runner. She didn't have time to doubt herself. "You go first. We'll be right behind you." She dragged Akiza onto the bike behind her.

"You'd better be," Yusei frowned with extreme dislike for their situation, but he accelerated and leapt out of the bed of the truck. His runner touched down, and he righted himself easily. "Come on Lise, you can make it," he muttered under his breath.

A masked turbo duelist raced past Yusei at top speed. He was only able to catch the unusual shape of the runner's frame before it raced out of sight.

"Who was that?"

/

"Okay, so I've been putting off getting my license. It sounded awesome at first, but being on a super-fast object while it's going super-fast is too much! I can jump, really!" Akiza was sweating with panic.

"We're going to make it, Akiza," Lise aimed for the open doors of the truck and gunned the accelerator. "Just hang on tight!"

She and Akiza went shooting for the doors just as the truck hit the side rail. The back end of the truck lifted, giving the two girls a boost in their jump. The truck continued its descent into the ocean below, empty.

The back end of Lise's runner hit first, and then the front wheel at full speed. "Okay, we made it. How're you doing?"

"Better," Akiza wheezed out. "That was less life threatening than I thought."

"I can pull over if you-"

"I don't zink so," the turbo duelist that had passed by Yusei wheeled around to draw even with Lise and Akiza. "Desolee, but Elise Kururugi, I challenge you to a turbo duel!"

"What? Right now?" Akiza was aghast. "But we literally almost died!"

"Unfortunately, you don't have a choice," the mystery turbo duelist pulled ahead, activating their dueling gear. "Your duel disk was rigged beforehand. If you quit in duel mode, your runner will explode! You can't back out now!"

Lise's systems immediately responded. "Turbo duel mode engaged. Autopilot standing by."

"Of course, you couldn't challenge me like a normal person would," Lise scowled.

The fields of New Domino City activated too. "A turbo duel is about to commence. Please vacate the combat mode immediately."

Lise frowned slightly and followed the mystery turbo duelist challenging her onto their designated track. "Still, this should be interesting. Sorry Akiza, I can't stop."

"It's okay!" Akiza was in awe, watching the challenger ride in front of Lise and the duel track spreading out before her. This is amazing. I've never seen a turbo duel like this before. For the first time, I'll see it from Lise's perspective.

Lise: 4000

Mystery Duelist: 4000

"I go first!" the challenger decreed. "I summon Sacred Knight Spearholder in defense position!"

(Sacred Knight Spear-Holder: Atk: 800 Def: 400)

"I set one card and end my turn."

"Then it's my turn," Lise drew a card. "I summon out Phoenix Flare Chick!"

(Phoenix Flare Chick: Atk: 600 Def: 600)

"And I'm activating its special ability! I can send it straight to the graveyard to summon Phoenix Flare out to the field!"

(Phoenix Flare: Atk: 1900 Def: 1300)

"Now Phoenix Flare attack Sacred Knight Spear-Holder!"

Lise's fiery bird opened its beak and unleashed a flurry of fireballs.

"I activate Floral Shield!" Lise's opponent countered. "It negates your monster's attack, and I draw one card." Flowers erupted from the trap, creating a shield that blocked the fireballs.

"Nice play," Lise mused. "I set three cards face down and end my turn."

They're about equal on the first turn. Akiza thought to her herself.

"My turn! I summon 'orse of the Floral Knights!"

(Horse of the Floral Knights: Atk: 400 Def: 800)

"When I successfully 'orse of the Floral Knights, I can draw one card from my deck," the unknown turbo duelist explained. "Zhen I active zhe speed spell Overboost from my 'and! Zhis turn I gain four speed counters, but my speed counters drop to one at zhe end phase." Their duel runner sped up accordingly to the gain in speed energy.

"Four speed counters!" Akiza's mouth dropped open.

"Guess I'm not dueling a novice," Lise cracked a tiny smile.

"Next I activate zhe speed spell Speed Fusion! When I have four or more speed counters, I can special summon a fusion monster! I fuse Sacred Knight Spearholder and 'orse of the Floral Knights! Appear; Centaur Mina!"

(Centaur Mina: Atk: 2200 Def: 1600)

"Centaur Mina attacks Phoenix Flare!"

The duelist's purple haired centaur knight turned around and headed into battle against Lise's fiery bird.

"I'm gonna have to turn your attack around with a trap of my own I like to call Swallow! This card negates your attack and then you take the damage I would have taken!" Lise countered.

"Ah, not so fast. Centaur Mina's ability activates. Once per turn she can negate your card's activation and effect, as well as place it face down again!"

"What?!"

Centaur Mina's hooves flattened Lise's trap back down to the field. The monster wheeled around behind Lise and Akiza before promptly vanquishing Lise's monster.

Lise: 3700

Mystery Duelist: 4000

"Whoa!" Akiza exclaimed, caught off guard.

"You okay?"

"Yeah…" Akiza trailed off, lost in her thoughts. This duel is different from a normal duel or even a psychic duel. It's like the speed force is racing right through my heart.

"I set one card and end my turn. Due to Overboost's effect, my speed counters decrease to one."

"Then it's my move!" Lise declared, drawing her next card. "I can special summon Inferno Wolf from my hand because you control monsters and I don't anymore!"

(Inferno Wolf: Atk: 2100 Def: 600)

"Next I normal summon Solar Butterfly to the field, and because she was successfully summoned I can draw two more cards from my deck."

(Solar Butterfly: Atk: 300 Def: 0)

"Now I think you know where this is going. Solar Butterfly tunes with Inferno Wolf to synchro summon… Fire Opal!"

(Fire Opal: Atk: 2200 Def: 1700)

"And while I'm on a roll, I think I'll have Fire Opal attack your Centaur Mina! They may have the same attack points for now, but Fire Opal gains 500 more for every monster on your side of the field. That means she's at 2700!"

"I play my trap Fleur Guard! One monster on my field is not destroyed by battle!"

Fire Opal's blast of flames was halted by Centaur Mina's shield.

"But you'll still take the damage!"

Lise: 3700

Mystery Duelist: 3500

"I end my turn with a face down card. You're up!"

"Incredible," Akiza murmured. "They're both completely stopping each other's attacks. It's like they've met before."

"This person isn't like the others."

"Huh?" Akiza was pulled out of her quiet reverie by Lise's words.

"They're acting completely different than the assholes who kidnapped us. For one thing, they're enjoying the duel."

"My turn! I summon the tuner monster Fleur Synchron!"

(Fleur Synchron: Atk: 400 Def: 200)

The little orange and pink sprouting flower monster popped onto the field.

"I smell an ace monster on its way," Lise said.

"That's not good," Akiza bit her lip.

"Level two Fleur Synchron tunes level six Centaur Mina! I synchro summon Chavelier de Fleur!"

(Chevalier de Fleur: Atk: 2700 Def: 2300)

Lise smiled to herself. "Knight of Flowers. Very coolio."

"When Fleur Synchron is used to synchro summon, I can special summon one level four or below monster in my hand! I summon Apprentice Knight!"

(Apprentice Knight: Atk: 1000 Def: 500)

"I have Swallow on my field still, and Fire Opal's ability means she has a thousand extra attack points," Lise told Akiza in a low voice. "This duelist doesn't seem the type to forget that. He must have more to his plan." She smiled. "I can't wait to see more."

Akiza's eyes widened in surprise. Lise is actually enjoying this?

"Chevalier de Fleur attacks Fire Opal!"

"What? But its attack points are lower!"

"Not if I play my quick play spell Rush Recklessly. Chevalier de Fleur gains an extra 700 attack points!"

(Chevalier de Fleur: Atk: 27003400)

"I play my trap Swallow! Now your attack is negated and you take the damage I would have!"

"I was waiting for zhat! I activate Chevalier de Fleur's aility! She can negate and destroy one of your trap or spell cards!" The duelist's monster sliced through Lise's trap, and then through Fire Opal.

"Well done," Lise admitted. "But now I know how your monster's ability works! I activate the trap Call of the Haunted! That means Fire Opal returns for an encore!"

Lise's opponent only seemed mildly amused. "I set two cards and end my turn. Well done, Elise Kururugi."

"Huh?" Both Akiza and Lise wore identical looks of confusion.

The duelist hit the brakes and skidded to a stop before them.

"Knew it," Lise chuckled softly. She too slowed down.

"Wait, Lise, don't! We'll be blown to pieces!"

"Somehow, I seriously doubt that," Lise braked to a stop right in front of her opponent.

"We're…not dead."

"It was a fake. Who are you?"

The duelist stood and removed their helmet. Long blonde hair previously hidden by headgear fell loose. The duelist turned to the girls with kind, light green eyes. "My name is Sherry LeBlanc, and I was testing your abilities."

Akiza blinked, grounded by her continuous shock. "Another female turbo duelist?"

"Desolee about the lie, but I'm 'ere to recruit you, Elise Kururugi. I don't want any other team to claim you!"